Thursday, December 08, 2005

SIDS isn't funny, but British slang is!

Here is a perfect example of why Google should not put British news on their news site. The article's headline, "Dummies reduce cot death risk" intrigued me. I figured "cot death" was the British term for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and even though I don't have a baby, I was really interested in how a dummy would prevent it.

Here's a quote from the BBC News article:...if all babies used a dummy, they calculate the risk would be one in 20,000. They say the key may be the fact that dummies usually have a bulky external handle. This may help to prevent a child from cutting off its air supply by burying its face into soft bedding, or an overlaying object such as a blanket."

Now, I read this imagining a dummy resting next to a sleeping child in its crib. And I had NO IDEA how the hell that would prevent SIDS.

Then I happened to see another news article headline, this time reading, "Pacifiers lower risk of SIDS, study says." Whew! That makes much more sense, and it's waaaay less creepy.